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Colonel Webb C. Hayes M. H. 



From photo in Rome while serving in the Italian campaign on the Piave 

River in 1917. 



Unveiling of Soldiers' Memorial Tablet 

On the Hayes Memorial Building 

At Spiegel Grove 



By LUCY ELLIOT KEELER 



Reprinted from 

Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly 

October, 1920 



COLUMBUS. OHIO : 

THE F. J. HEER PRINTING CO. 

1920 






v/--^ 



OCT n iS?' 



COLONEL WEBB C. HAYES. 



Colonel Webb C. Hayes, second son of President Rutherford B. 
Hayes, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, March 20, I806. He was confi- 
dential secretary to his father in the White House ; later he had a suc- 
cessful business career. He has long been active in military affairs. 
On the following pages tribute is paid to his patriotism, public spirit 
and filial devotion. 

Colonel Hayes served in the war with Spain, through the campaign 
of Santiago de Cuba where he was wounded and had his horse killed, 
and through the campaign in Porto Rico, being recommended for 
brevets in each campaign. In the Philippine Insurrection he was awarded 
the Congressional Medal of Honor for distinguished gallantry at Vigan, 
P. I., December 4, 1899, by order of President Roosevelt; he served on 
the staff of Major General Chaffee, commanding the China Relief Expe- 
dition of 1900. 

In 1904, during the Russo-Japanese War he was an unofficial ob- 
server, or an agent of the State Department with the Japanese in their 
advance to the Yalu River and against Port Arthur and with the Rus- 
sians in Port Arthur and Manchuria. 

At the outbreak of the World War in 1914 Colonel Hayes became 
again an agent of the State Department, remaining in Paris until after 
the repulse of the Germans at the battle of the Marne when he proceeded 
via Antwerp and The Hague to Berlin. He was sent in a German military 
car along the route of the German advance through Liege, Namur and 
Mons to Brussels ; then through the German lines at Ghent to Rotter- 
dam and Amiens, returning again to France in August, 1917, after 
America entered the war. 

He served in the Italian campaign on the Piave River. He was 
later Regional Commissioner A. E. F. in France and North Africa. 
While holding this position he was decorated at Fez. Morocco, by Gen- 
eral Lyantry, French Resident General, as representative of the Sultan 
of Morocco. 

(3) 



UNVEILING OF THE SOLDIERS' MEMORIAL TABLET 

ON THE HAYES MEMORIAL BUILDING 

AT SPIEGEL GROVE. 



BY LUCY ELLIOT KEELER. 

The Ninety-eighth Anniversary of the birth of Rutherford 
B. Hayes, Nineteenth President of the United States, 1877-1881, 
and at the time of his death, January 17, 1893, the honored 
president of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical 
Society, was celel^rated with ceremonies of unusual interest on 
October 4, 1920, at Spiegel Cirove, hVemont, Ohio. The day was 
cloudless and the people came by thousands. The exercises wer.; 
held under the auspices of the society with its president, former 
Governor James E. Campbell, presiding. It had been the original 
mtention to lay the corner stone of a stackroom addition to the 
present Library and Museum Building, to be built in architectural 
harmony with it and of a capacity sufficient to accommodate 
150,000 volumes, and to double the capacity of the museum. An 
interesting feature of the proposed plan was to incorporate a 
reproduction of the library of Dr. Charles Richard Williams, 
of Princeton, New Jersey, the biographer of President Hayes, 
who has generously tendered to the Society his magnificent 
library and historical papers. Incidentally it may be mentioned 
Dr. Williams's library room thus to be reproduced was the room 
in the house at Princeton occu|^ied by President Woodrow Wil- 
son after his resignation as president of Princeton University 
and during his incumbency of the office of Governor of New 
Jersey, prior to his inauguration as President of the United 
States March 4, 1913. 

It was also in contemplation to have the formal dedication 
of the Soldiers' Memorial Parkway of Sandusky County, through 
land originally presented by Colonel Hayes to the Society and by it 
donated for a Parkway: as well as the dedication of the Soldiers* 
Memorial Sunparior addition to the Memorial Hospital of San- 
dusky County; but the two latter projects were in an uncom^ 
pleted condition, and the exercises were limited to an inspection 

(5) 



7 

-of them and the dedication of a bronze memorial Tablet pre- 
sented by Colonel Hayes in honor of his comrades of recent 
wars. 

The exercises were ushered in by a parade at one o'clock in 
which the veterans of the World War and the War with Spain 
marched with flag's fluttering in the warm October sunlight, fol- 
lowed by the Grand Army veterans in automobiles, the three 
divisions headed by the United States Navy Recruiting Band 
and the Light Guard and Woodmen's Bands of Fremont. The 
procession was reviewed by the distinguished guests as it marched 
past the still unfinished Soldiers' Memorial Sunparlor of the 
Memorial Hospital of Sandusky County, and over the uncom- 
pleted Soldiers' Memorial Parkway, after which the impressive 
procession entered the Spiegel Grove State Park and formed in 
front of the Hayes Memorial Library, on the northern face of 
which was un\'eiled the artistically wrought Memorial Tablet 
presented by Colonel Webb C. Hayes, M. H., in memory of his 
eighty comrades of Sandusky county who died in the service 
of their country in the War with Spain, the insurrection in the 
Philippines, China, the Mexican Border and in the World War. 
While the magnificent Navy Recruiting Band played the Star 
Spangled Banner, Grand Marshal A. E. Slessman, chairman of 
the Soldiers* Memorial Parkway Committee, presented Mrs. 
Webb C. Hayes who was dressed in her costume of the Y. M. C. 
A. in which she had served in France as Hostess and Librarian 
at the American Soldiers Leave Areas at Aix-les-Bains and Nice. 
Mrs. Hayes gracefully uncovered the beautiful bronze tablet 
and turned it over to Commander W. H. Johnston, of 
Edgar Thurston Post, American Legion, and Commander 
Harry Price of Emerson Command, Spanish War Veterans. 
After a careful inspection of the tablet by Governor Campbell. 
Senator and Mrs. Harding, and the members of the Hayes 
family who were on the platform, the soldiers of the World 
War formed a lane extending from the Memorial Building 
through to the speakers' stand under the McKinley Oaks of 
1897; and through this lane walked Senator Harding with Mrs. 
Hayes, preceded by President Campbell of the Arch^ological 



8 

and Historical Society, attended by former Congressman Over- 
myer, and followed by Colonel Hayes and Mrs. Harding and 
other guests. 

Music was provided by the U. S. Navy Recruiting Band 
of the central division, and by the combined bands of the Fre- 
mont Light Guard and Woodmen of the World. Mr. B. H. 
Swift, Chairman of the Sandusky County War Work Committee, 
called the meeting to order and presented Chaplain Ferguson of 
the Ohio Soldiers' Home who delivered the invocation. In pre- 
senting the members of the Board of County Commissioners of 
Sandusky county and its efficient County Engineer to welcome 
the assembly, Chairman Swift said : 

"Sandusky County soldiers are indebted to the patriotic 
members of the present and former Boards of County Commis- 
sioners, and to one of her patriotic soldiers. Colonel Hayes, who 
conceived and executed the plan, including the erection of the 
bronze memorial tablet and Soldiers' Memorial Sunparlor, on 
the beautiful Soldiers' Memorial Parkway of Sandusky Coimty. 
Sandusky county's plan of honoring her soldiers who died in the 
service is soon to be realized in the form of this Soldiers' 
Memorial Parkway, of about loo feet in width with two paved 
drives 14 feet in width along the border, between which are 
planted, at a distance of 35 feet apart, two rows of buckeye trees, 
the insignia of the 37th or Buckeye Division, to which are af- 
fixed white enamel tree-labels, with four lines giving the name, 
organization, place and date of death. It is hoped that the 
Memorial Parkway plan of honoring the dead at the county seat 
of each county in the State of Ohio and in the countr}^ may be 
adopted generally and that the remains of the honored dead who 
fell in battle on the fields of France may be permitted to remain in 
the beautiful American park cemeteries where they now lie and 
where they will be visited for countless ages by their country- 
men *' 

President Campbell's Address. 

The Hon. James E. Campbell, President of the Ohio State 
Archaeological and Historial Society, was then presented as the 
president of the day. President Campbell delivered the following 
address : 



''Fellow Citizois: 

"The patriotic people of Sandusky County, remembering and 
revering their heroic dead, have called us to join them in unveil- 
uig a tablet that shall preserve forever, in enduring bronze, the 
names of those gallant sons of the comity who, in the war with 
Spain and in that unparalleled cataclysm known as "The Worl.l 
War," gave their lives to their country, to mankind and to hu- 
manity. The war with Spain was a small war whde the World 
War was the worst known to men ; but the memorv of him who 
died in the one is as precious and glorious as that of him who 
died in the other. They were all heroes whom the people of 
Sandusky county delight alike to honor. 

"These men carried our flag upon foreign soil — in the first 
instance for the purpose of freeing two oppressed races from 
semi-barbaric rule ; in the second instance to destroy a military 
autocracy which threatened to extirjmte democracy and to make 
all nations its abject slaves or dependents. From both of these 
v/ars the Star Spangled Banner emerged with added and im- 
perishable lustre. Especially is this true of the last war for 
there, to quote these appropriate lines, — 

'Serene and beautiful it waved. 

The flag our fathers knew. 
In the sunny air of France it laved 

And gained a brighter hue. 

Oh, max ir ever the emblem be 

Of all that makes this country free; 

And may we cherish liberty 
And to the flag be true.' 

"To the eminent orators who are your honored guests, who 
are much more capable of doing justice to these patriot dead 
than I, and who are here for that purpose, I leave such further 
eulogy as they may deem appropriate. I consider this a suitable 
opportunity, however, on behalf of the Ohio State Archaeological 
and Historical Society, under whose auspices these ceremonies 
are held, to state formally the development and consummation of 
the project (born in the mind of Colonel Webb C. Hayes) of 
making .Spiegel Grove one of the most important monuments to 
history and ])atriotism in the .State of Ohio. It is the duty of this 



lO 



society, and one to which it has faithfully adhered, to collect 
and disseminate information as to the history of this state as well 
as to collect, preserve and classify evidences of its occupation 
by prehistoric races. 








Honorable James E. Campbell, 

President of Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society. 

Former Governor of Ohio. 

''No part of the work of this society has been more important 
or more valuable to the historical collections of the state than the 
acquisition of Spiegel Grove with the precious personal property 
connected therewith. Its history carries one back to a time 



II 

long prior to the Revolutionary War, for it is located in the old 
Indian Reservation or Free Territory, maintained at the lower 
rapids of the Sandusky river, which was a point of interest long 
before the white man entered Ohio. Israel Putnam was here 
in 1764 and during the War of the Revolution over 2000 whites, 
captured l)y the Indians, passed through the Sanduskv X'alley. 
stopping at the Lower Falls, now Fremont, from whence thev 
were transportted by shipping to Detroit or on to Montreal. Zeis- 
berger and Heckewelder, the Moravians, were prisoners here, 
and also Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton. In 1872 the British 
sent troops from Detroit as far as Lower Sandusky, en route to 
repel the Crawford expedition, but they arrived too late, owing 
to the capture and burning of Crawford on the Sandusky Plains. 
During the war of 1812, through these very grounds the old 
Harrison Trail — a military road which led from Fort Stephen- 
son to Fort Seneca — passed and is preserved intact as its prin- 
cipal driveway. 

"Added to this historic interest is the fact that it typifies an 
American home of the latter part of the nineteenth century — a 
home fraught witli historic memories of Rutherford B. 
Hayes, the nineteenth president of the United States, and his 
wife, Lucy Webb Hayes. Of all the homes of our presi- 
dents, covering a period of one hundred and thirty years, there 
have been preserved only those of Washington at Mt. Vernon, 
Jefferson at Monticello, Madison at Montpelier, Jackson at The 
Hermitage, and Lincoln's modest home in the city of Springfield. 
But in all these instances, more or less time had elapsed before 
the homes were acquired and put in a state of preservation; and 
but few or no personal relics or memorials were secured. The 
families of the presidents had in most cases parted with the 
property, and their historic associations were generally dissipated. 
It is gratifying to know that Spiegel Grove met no such impair- 
ment. When received by the State it was in a perfect state of 
preservation, and all of the valuable historic eft'ects of President 
Hayes were there intact. Few presidents of the United States 
have left so large and so complete a collection of documents, 
papers and books. To these should be added all the honorable 
mementoes and historical objects that were intimately associated 




Mrs. Webb C. Hayes and Sergeant Dalton Hayes. Co. D, 

165th Infantry. 

At the Y. M. C. A. American Soldiers Leave Area, Nice. France, December, 1918. 



Mrs. Webb C. Hayes was a Red Cross worker in Paris in 
1914 and again at Paris and Rome in 1917, after x\merica entered 
the World War. She joined the Y. M. C. A. as Hbrarian and 
hostess on the organization of the American Soldiers Leave 
Area at Aix les Bains in February, 1918, and was transferred to 
Xice when the American Soldiers Leave Area on the Riviera 
was opened in October, 191 8. She brought her wounded nephew, 
Sergeant Dalton Hayes, home to America in December, 1918, 
after the armistice. 

Sergeant Dalton Hayes, a Princeton student, aged twenty 
years, was the youngest of six grandsons of Rutherford B. 
Hayes in the World War. He served in the 165th U. S. Infantry 
(Old 60th New York), 42nd or Rainbow Division, A. E. F. He 
Avas severely wounded in the Argonne, October 14, 1918. 

(13) 



14 

with President Hayes during his career as a soldier in the Civil 
War, as well as that of his administration as president ; and many 
personal belongings of his wife. Lucy Webb Hayes, during her 
exalted life in the White House. President Hayes was a great 
reader and a man of scholarly tastes and attainments. His library 
of Americana was not excelled, in his time, by that of any other 
private individual in the nation. He had the instinct of a col- 
lector and preserved all papers and memoranda, both of hi^ 
public and private life, in an orderly and accessible form. His 
letters and his diaries covering a continuous period of sixty years, 
written in his own hand, are in this collection and are now being 
prepared and compiled for publication by this society. They will 
be a valuable contribution to American history. With the excep- 
tion of Thomas Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt, no president 
of the United States has left such a collection of individual mem- 
oranda, literary remains and personal mementoes as did President 
Hayes. 

"Spiegel Grove, with its contents, upon the death of Presi- 
dent Hayes in 1893, ^^'^^ bequeathed to his children. After- 
wards the entire Spiegel Grove property, with its library and 
collections, became the property of Colonel Hayes l)y deed 
in 1899 from the other heirs in the settlement of the estate. 
Through the generous filial devotion and the patriotic spirit of 
Colonel Hayes, this whole tract was off'ered, without cost, to tlie 
State as a public park in memory of both of his parents, by deeds 
dated March 30, 1909, and March 10, 1910. The conditions upon 
which Colonel Hayes donated this property to the State of Ohio 
simply require its maintenance as a state park, with the further 
condition that : *'The Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society 
should secure the erection upon that part of Spiegel Grove here- 
tofore conveyed to the State of Ohio for a state park, a suitable 
fireproof building on the site reserved opposite the Jefferson 
Street entrance, for the purpose of preserving and forever keep- 
ing in Spiegel Grove all papers, books and manuscripts left bv the 
said Rutherford B. Hayes, * * * * which building shall be in 



15 

the form of a Branch Reference Library and Museum of the 
Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, and the con- 
struction and decoration of the said building shall be in the nature 
of a memorial also to the soldiers, sailors, and pioneers of San- 
dusky county; and suitable memorial tablets, busts and decora- 
tions indicative of the historical events and patriotic citizenship 
of Sandusky county shall be placed in and on said building, and 
said building shall forever remain open to the public under 
proper rules and regulations to be hereafter made by said 
society," 

"Thus there was given to the nation and to the State a herit- 
age of which both can well be proud, and I take this occasion on 
behalf of the society which I represent, and on behalf of the State 
which is represented by the society, to express the fullest appre- 
ciation and deepest sense of obligation. These expressions also 
extend to the noble and generous wife of Colonel Hayes who has 
joined him in making this spot one of historic beauty as well as 
a patriotic monument. 

"In all the years since Colonel Hayes executed his first deed 
to this property, the public has been left in ignorance of the 
magnitude of his contributions; of his self-sacrifice: and of his 
generous patriotism. He has arrived at the age (and so have I) 
at which the truth can be told without suspicion of flattery or 
adulation, and at which it, can be received without undue infla- 
tion. Therefore I take it upon myself, as president of this so- 
ciety, to relate publicly and in detail what Colonel Hayes has con- 
tributed to this great patriotic monument, aside from the propert*/ 
itself ; and these facts are due historically not only to Colonel 
Hayes, but to the society and to the people of Ohio. 

''Colonel Hayes spent large sums after the legal steps had 
been taken to invest this property in the Ohio Archaeological 
and Historical Society, in trust for the State of Ohio. The con- 
struction of the Hayes Memorial building cost when completed 
over $TOO,ooo, towards which the State paid $45,000 and also 
ixiid $10,000 for the State's share of the paving of the streets 
on the three sides of the Spiegel Grove State Park. Colonel 
Hayes at various times, and in numerous ways, in order to 



i6 

complete the building and bring it to the point of perfection 
which it has attained, expended $50,000 to that end, and to 
further add to its usefulness and beauty as a monument, he has 
provided for an addition to the building that will cost at least 
$35,000, the funds for which are now in the hands of a trustee 
appointed for that purpose. 

•'Since Spiegel Grove has been dedicated by Colonel Hayes 
he has placed in the hands of trustees for the benefit of the so- 
ciety and the State of Ohio other lands contiguous to the grove 
which, when sold, the trustees are to place the proceeds thereof 
in a trust fund for the use and benefit of this institution. So far 
lands' to the value of $35,000 have been disposed of, and that 
amount is in the hands of a trustee for the use and benefit of 
Spiegel Grove, as held by this society. The land, exclusive of 
Spiegel Grove, remaining unsold is worth at least $100,000, the 
proceeds of which, upon sale, will be held in trust for the use 
and maintenance of the Spiegel Grove park and residence with 
any remainder for books for the Hayes Memorial Library. 

"Oh July 1st of last year Colonel Hayes placed $100,000 in 
trust to be used in the maintenance and upbuilding of this 
patriotic memorial. I am within a conservative estimate when 1 
state that Colonel Hayes has disposed, for the benefit of posteritv, 
in the form of the beautiful and attractive property which you see 
before you, at least $500,000: $250,000 in cash and securities 
for endowment funds, and $250,000 in real estate and personal 
property including the library Americana and collections. 

"Greater and more far-reaching than the vast funds which 
he has so consecrated to others and to the memory of those loved 
by him, is his magnificent spirit of unselfishness, of tender dt.'- 
votion to the memory of his father and mother, and of his 
desire to leave to future generations historic evidence of the past. 
Here the people of Ohio forever will come to view the evidences 
of a period of American history that will be to them a continuing 
lesson and an inspiring heritage. A visit to this place will stimu- 
late the study of Ohio history ; of her Indian tribes ; of the wars 
between between the British and French and their Indian allies; 
followed by our war for Independence, when this was a British 
post; and of her people's heroic defense of our country in the war 



«7 




i8 

of 1812. They will see here many historical mementos of one 
who laid down civil honor to go forth to hght for the Union. 
They will see a collection of souvenirs of every president from 
Washington to Wilson ; manuscripts of great historic importance 
and literature rarely found in Ohio libraries. They will view a 
monument evidencing the unselfish devotion of private interests 
to public good, and viewing this monument they will be inspired 
to devote themselves anew to the service of our country and to 
common humanity." 

At the conclusion of his address there wTre many cheers 
for Colonel Hayes. Governor Campbell called upon him for a 
speech but the Colonel merely rose to his feet from his chair 
several rows back of the presiding officer, bowed to the audience 
and sat down. This was the occasion for renewed cheers and 
finally Colonel Hayes rose to his feet and walked forward to 
the front of the stand. When the crowd had quieted expecting 
remarks he bowed and returned to his seat. 

"Just as modest as he is good", said Chairman Campbell and 
the crowd again applauded. 

The Reverend Father F. S. Legowski, Overseas Chaplain in 
the 32nd Division A. E. F., in the absence of Colonel F. W. Gal- 
braith, national commander of the American Legion, gave an 
extemporaneous address that was well received. We regret that 
no stenographic report of it was made. It deserved a place in 
this record of the occasion. Father Legowski praised the liber- 
ality and patriotic spirit of Colonel Hayes and Mrs, Hayes, who 
had preceded the boys overseas to perform their part in the 
World War and minister to the soldiers who, far from home, on 
a foreign soil, appreciated the tender and affectionate care so 
freely bestowed upon them. In the name of the American Legion 
he expressed appreciation for their patriotic service and the 
splendid memorial they have provided, not only to the citizens 
of the present day but to posterity. The speaker held the closest 
attention of the vast audience as he described the touching 
scenes in the Argonne with its forest of white crosses, each 
m.arkina- the grave of an American soldier who fell fighting to 
save riviliz^tion. In his appeal he voiced the sentiment that none 
wiV 1^^ unfaithful to the cause for which those heroes died. 



19 



In speaking of the relics of the great World War and of all 
our wars Father Legowski declared that war is a terrible thing 
and that all the agencies of civilization should be used to prevent 
it ; that the implements of war like itself are terrible to look upon 
when they suggest the carnage of battle. But when they recall 
the righteous cause for the triumph of which they were used they 
])ecome sacred mementoes. As sucli they should be gathered to- 




W'oRLD War Veterans Reviewed on Soldiers' Memorial Parkway. 



gether and preserved for the lesson that they teach to succeeding 
generations. 

Brigadier General W. V. McMaken, President of the 37th 
Division Association, expressed the thanks of his comrades of 
the war with Spain and of the World War to Colonel and I\Trs. 
Hayes for the splendid recognition of the heroic dead who died 
while serving valiantly for their country. He pleaded with the 
young people present that they should not forget the ceremonies 
cf this occasion and that they should carry on the work this day 
inaugurated. He appealed to them to keep faith in God and 
country and to hold aloft the flag in its exalted place. 



20 

Captain Grant S. Taylor, chief of staff of the Commander- 
in-chief of the Spanish War Veterans, spoke for his fellow 
soldiers. He detailed our losses in the War with Spain and the 
Philippine Insurrection and showed that they were relatively 
high. Those who served their country in the southern camps and 
in the tropical islands were face to face with conditions rarely 
met by the soldiers of other wars. They suffered from the in- 
roads of disease which thinned the ranks of the boys in blue. 
Like the other speakers he voiced the highest appreciation for 
what had been done at Spiegel Grove to stimulate patriotism and 
keep green the memory of these who served their country in 
the camp and on the field. 

Commander S. B. Rathbun, of Eugene Rawson Post, re- 
sponded for the Commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the 
Republic, in a very effective way, by calling on all members of 
the Grand Army of the Republic to rise and salute. The Presi- 
dent of the society, Governor Campbell, and the president 
emeritus of the society, the Rev. Dr. Wright, elicited increased 
applause by rising and saluting with their comrades of the G. A. 
R. The Hon. James M. Cox, Governor of Ohio, and a trustee of 
the Society found himself unable to be present and Governor 
Campbell, as presiding officer, then presented the Hon. Warren G. 
Harding, United States Senator from Ohio and a life member 
of the society. 

The speaker, before entering upon his prepared address, 
made a few introductory remarks. He said that he was glad he 
had kept his word witli Colonel Hayes and had come to Fremont. 
He had promised to do this before he had been nominated for 
President of the United States. He regarded that promise in 
the nature of a contract. 'T believe in always keeping my con- 
tract," said he, ''and I kept my contract when I came to Fremont 
today." Much trouble in the world and many calamities includ- 
ing some of our serious wars, he declared, came through the 
failure of men and states and nations to keep their contract. 

Senator Harding's Address. 
Senator Harding then spoke as follows : 

"Mv Countrymen : — It is a fine thing to gather at the 3hi *nes 
of American patriotism. It is fine that we have such shrii.es. 



21 



Without them we should have httle soul, and less love of country. 
It is good to pause and note the sacrifices through which we came 
to nationality and then to eminence in the world. It is reassur- 
ing to dwell afresh in the atmosphere of colonial heroism, and to 
be reminded anew that the spirit which triumphed in the early 
making of the Republic is with us, after all the years of develop- 




Senator Warren G. Harding. 

ing fulfillment to guarantee its perpetuity. It stirs our hearts to 
recall how luindreds fought in colonial days, it rivets our faith 
anew to know how millions fought and more millions were read\ 
and still more millions available when our nationality and world 
civilization were threatened in the great World War. 

"It is an exceptional shrine at which we are gathered today. 
A century and a half ago Israel Putnam came here in command 



22 

of the Connecticut battallion, and with other Colonial troops 
from New York and New Jersey in the British expedition of 
1764, under Bradstreet, and revealed to the northwest territory 
the mettle of the men of New England. It was here at old Fort 
Stephenson that Major George Croghan defended the new re- 
public against the British and the Indians and won the only land 
victory within the limits of the United States in the War of 1812. 

"Two companies from this county served with Croghan again 
in the war with Mexico, From this hallowed spot came the 
brave and gallant Major-General James B. McPherson, the officer 
highest in rank and command killed during the war for the 
Union. From Sandusky county came the hrst American killed 
in the first war for humanity's sake in all the world — Seaman 
George B. Meek. Aye, and from old Sandusky county there 
went the full quota of American defenders in the W^orld War. 
Seventy of them made the supreme sacrifice, and in their mem- 
ory, in the main, we are met in grateful, loving tribute today. 

"Still another glory illuminates this exceptional American 
shrine. From this spot came citizen, soldier, patriot and presi- 
dent, Rutherford B. Hayes. He served eminently in war and 
patriotically in peace. I hke to recall the helpful, reassuring ad- 
ministration of this fine, firm, unpretentious American, whose 
official service to America was both healing and heroic, and left 
a sense of satisfying security as a heritage to America. 

"Today we are at the shrine of American manhood, to re- 
avow that love of country which fills every American breast, and 
hold sacrifice a ready ofiPering to our common country. Youth 
holds the safety of the Republic its especial obligation. It is no 
figure of speech, signifying comradeship, to refer to 'the boys' 
of our armies. The soldiers of the revolution, the War of 181 2, 
the Mexican War, the War for the Union, the Spanish- American 
W^ar, and the great World War, were almost identical in type, 
typical specimens of the flower of American young manhood. 
Regal in their confidence, robust in their strength and regnant in 
their hopes, American youths have more than responded to the 
nation's need — American youths have rushed to the country's 
salvation. 

"When the Baroness Riedesel wrote of the surrender of the 
British under Burgoyne at Saratoga, of which she was a witness, 



^3 



she remarked the "handsome lads of the age of about seventeen," 
and we know ourselves now that but for these lads the w^ar of the 
American Revolution could not have been won. 

"The same tvpe of striplings wrought the American victory 
under Croohan, and carried the flag in triumph to the City of 









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JHURSTON 

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CHAftLES: 

mvARftl- 

UGUSt B.MISCHKE 
fMJi C.MITCHELL 
'CLIFTON CNIEBLWG 
'tOUIS PRESSLER 
HARRY A.SCHALL 
JAMES A.SMiTH 
FRANK S.STEVENSON 



1>Sra> CHERRY FRANK S. STEVEN! 

EDWARD J.SNYDER JOHN W, STINE 
i: WILLIAM WELKKli- DENNIS WHELAN 






Tablet Unveiled on the Hayes Memorial Building. 

Mexico and unfurled it from the heights of Chapultepec. I saw 
them go forth for the w^ar to liberate Cuba, and I know the story 
of youth's defense of union and nationality in the Civil War. 
There were nearly goo,ooo boys in the northern armies alone, 
boys of the age of McKinley and Foraker. A half million youths 
fought for the confederate cause, from Bull Run to Appomattox. 
At Gettysburg, wdiere the high tide of the rebellion ebbed from 



24 

its crimsoned flood, the average age of the veteran armies of that 
famed battle was but 20 years. McKinley enlisted at 17, For- 
aker was a captain before he was 21, and Miles commanded the 
second army corps before he was 26. 

"Only a few days ago 20,000 of the American Legion 
marched in splendid lines at Cleveland, and there was the same 
youth, the same undaunted spirit, the same virile young Ameri- 
can manhood which has characterized American soldiery in all 
our wars and written again and again our admonition to have 
faith in the Republic. 

"Early after our entry into the W^orld War a young American 
of 18 called at my office in Washington tO' ask my assistance in 
getting a passport to France. I was surprised and I a.-ked, 'Why 
not fight under our own flag?' He said he wanted to be an 
aviator and iie was too }Oung for acceptance in the naval air 
service. 'Then why not the army?' I asked. 'Five thousand 
awaiting enrollment now, and I can't wait.' Then I learned that 
he had visited the French Embassy, had seen the military at- 
tache, passed an informal examination and was assured of ac- 
ceptance if he could only reach France. I liked his ardor and en- 
thusiasm, but I knew him to be an only son, I knew he had come 
to mei from college, and 1 thought I ought to have his parents' 
approval. So I said, AVhat will your mother say?' In a flash 
he produced a telegram from her. It read, T do hope Senator 
Harding can help you to France. God bless you. I am glad to 
have you go.' And he went, and ultimately I hope he found his 
place under the Stars and Stripes. I am sure he did his part, 
wherever he fought, just as did all the sons of the Republic from 
north and south, from east and west, from factory, ofiice and 
farm. 1 do not say we wen the W^orld War. but we helped to win 
it, and our American forces wrought new glories for the Republic 
from the Marne to the Argonne. and gave to America new rever- 
ence and new admiration throughout the world. Our boys were 
the worthy sons of worthv sires, worthy defenders of a worthy 
republic. They never turned back. Alas ! they, too rarely halted, 
because they could not tolerate the patient methods of the more 
seasoned veterans. 



''Retreat is honorable, often necessary, but the youth from 
America could not understand it, or they could not harmonize 
it with their purpose. It is said our missing dead in the World 
War is relatively the smallest in the records of warfare. Th^: 
explanation is that no American battle line moved rearward over 
our glorious dead. 




Senator Harding, Mrs. Harding. AIrs. Hayes. Lt. Comdr. Hayes, 
U. S. N., and AIr. B. H. Swift. 



"I have heard the stories of heroism and achievement which 
stir our emotions and magnify our pride, but I have yet to meet 
a hero who was conscious of his heroism, or realized that he was 
engaged in an act to rivet the gaze of all the world. It is not 
difficult to understand, after all. The men of the army and navy 
were committed to a duty, and the performance of that duty 



26 

was a simple matter of course. They were upon the supreme 
stage of world heroism, but were simply performing the duties 
of national defenders, unmindful of plaudits or wondering gaze. 
Knowledge of duty well done, of devotion bravely proven, of 
service littingly rendered — these were their inspiration then, but 
we utter today and memorialize for all time the honors they won 
lor themselves, their kind, their land, their neople. 

"I voice today a tribute to the steadfastness, the resolution, 
the undaunted courage, the irresistible determination of the 
American expeditionary forces. They wrought less in brilhanc} , 
but more in glory. They were less trained, but profited more 
from Europe's costly experience. They were delayed in reaching 
the Ijatde front, but they speeded in meeting the enemy. They 
made few trenches, but tliey took many. They had few objec- 
tives, but they reached the one big one, and did their full part to 
save world civilization. They came home with as little parade as 
they went. America never saw the spectacle of their might and 
majesty, but America has sensed the bigness of our expeditionary 
army and those in camp ready for call, and somehow there is a 
feeling of renewed security throughout the Republic. 

"This is not alone for what you have done under arms. It is 
because of what America knows you will do in peace. You 
World War veterans are the new leaven in the patriotic citizen- 
ship of the Republic, the mightiest influence in American life 
for half a century to come. It was your Republic before, but 
there is a new intimacy now. 

'* 'Let us do more even than is symbolized in memorial tablets 
and monuments. Let us pay our sorrowing tribute to the dead, 
our grateful tribute to the living, and be resolved all of us, to 
meet our duties as they met theirs, undeterred and unafraid, and 
hand on to our sons and daughters the legacy of liberty and the 
temple of security, our own United States of America/ " 

The Hon. Atlee Pomerene, United States Senator from 
Ohio, was unable to be present owing to the serious illness of his 
wife. President Campbell then introduced the Hon. James T. 
Begg, Congressman of the 13th Ohio District, who delivered 
a very patriotic address. The benediction was then pronounced 



27 

by the Rev. Dr. George Frederick Wright president emeritus ot 
the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society. 

Other Celebrations at Spiegel Grove. 
Spiegel Grove has been the scene of many celebrations. The 
first of record, now nearly seventy years ago, was the Fourth of 
July celebration of 1852, which was of g^reat interest to thi- 
communitv as markino- the national holidav as well as the ceic- 
bration in honor of the return of the old gun, Betsy Croghan, 
to the scene of her great victory of nearly forty years before. 
Betsy Croghan, the iron six-pound gun, is of French manufacture 
and w^as supposed to have been captured from the French by the 
British in one of the battles of the old French war of 1756- 1763. 
It is not definitelv known when the future Old Betsy was brought 
to the Lower Falls of the Sandusky to help defend the old 
Indian Factor's house in the center of the two-mile square reser- 
vation first ceded to the United States by the Indians in the 
Treaty of 1785. In 181 2 the old Factors house was enlarged 
and stockaded so as to include almost double the original terri- 
tory, \vith six blockhouses instead of four, owing to its enlarge- 
ment. It was then christened "Fort Stephenson," after Colonel 
Stephenson the officer in charge. Its sole means of defense was 
Old Betsy and the t6o soldiers under the gallant Major Croghan 
of whose victory in the defense of Fort Stephenson Genera" 
Sherman said : 

"The defence of Fort Stephenson, by Croghan and his 
gallant little band, was the necessary precursor to Perry's vic- 
tory on the Lake, and of General Harrison's triumphant victory 
at the battle of the Thames. These assured to our immediate 
ancestors the mastery of the Great \\^est, and from that day to 
this the west has been the bulwark of this nation." 

Old Betsy was taken with General Harrison's army down 
to the site of Old Fort Sandoski of 1745 and transported across 
the lake into Canada, where she is supposed to have taken part in 
General Harrison's victorious Battle of the Thames, October 
5' 1813. 

For a score or more of years, she was lost sight of, but 
having been presented by Congress to grace the scene of her 



2i^ 

victory, which in mihtary parlance was known as the Battle of 
Sandusky, she was, after identification, shipped from the arsenal 
at Pittsburgh, and the last stage of her journey being on the 
water, she was landed at Sandusky City, which had recently taken 
that name though at the time of the battle in 1813 it was known 
only as Ogontz Point and later Portland. 

The authorities of Sandusky City, which had so recently 
changed its name from Portland, promptly seized the old cannon 
and buried her in the sand until such time as it might be safe 
to proclaim the old gun as the victor in the defense of Fort San- 
dusky ''near this spot." This was prevented by the vigilant and 
patriotic mayor of Fremont, which also had recently felt the 
necessity of changing its name from Lower Sandusky owing 
tc the multiplicity of towns named Sandusky which with the as- 
sumption of that name by the old town of Portland at the mouth 
of the Sandusky River made five towns bearing the name San- 
dusky on the less than 100 miles of the historic old Sandusky 
River, viz. : Sandusky City at its mouth, Lower Sandusky, Up- 
per Sandusky, Little Sandusky. Big Sandusky. 

Tn 1840 mail was sent by water from Cleveland to the 
recently re-christened town of Sandusky City where the mail 
Vv-as held to suit the convenience of the citizens of that town but 
much to the annoyance of the citizens and merchants of the old 
historic Indian towns, of Lower Sandusky and Upper Sanduskv, 
until finally the citizens of Lower Sandusky petitioned the coun 
to change the name S(^ that they might promptly thereafter re- 
ceive their mail. Among otlier names mentioned those of the 
gallant Major George Croghan. then properly pronounced as 
though spelled Kraun. and the military explorer. Colonel John C. 
Fremont were most prominently mentioned. The petition was re- 
ferred to Rutherford B. Hayes. Esquire, who began the practice 
of law at Lower Sandusky after his graduation from the iHar- 
vard Law School in 1845, as a commissioner to report to the 
court on thei desirability of a change. iMr. iHayes, on his last 
appearance as a member of the Sandusky County Bar prior to his 
removal to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1849, reported in favor of adopt- 
ing the name of Fremont, who in addition to his successful ex- 
plorations in opening a pathway through the Rocky iMountains 



29 

to the Pacific, had recently enhsted the enthusiastic interest of 
the Democratic citizens of Lower Sandusky by eloping with the 
favorite daughter, Jessie, of the great Democratic Senator 
Thomas H. Benton and marrying her in spite of pronounced 
parental objections. There was but one protest against the 
change of name by a local poet whose final stanza was : "Change 
the people not the name of my old home Sandusky." 

Mayor Bartlett, of Fremont, on learning through private 
detectives of the spot where old Betsy had been buried, organized 
an expedition and marched to the shore of the lake, disinterred 
old Betsy, and amid jeering cries at the discomfited citizens of 
Sandusky City, escorted her in honor to the site of Fort 
Stephenson where she has since remained an object of great 
veneration to all visitors to the Fort. 

Hence the 4th of July celebration of 1852 largely partook 
of a glorification over the final return of Old Betsy to the fort 
which s!;e had made famous as the scene of the one American 
land victory en American soil in the War of 181 2. 

The selection of Spiegel Grove as the scene of many famous 
gatherings addressed by our foremost statesmen, soldiers and 
sailors, began when its owner, Rutherford B. Hayes, for whom 
it was purchased in 18-^5, became president of the United States. 
The first of these celebrations was on September 14. 1877, in 
iionor of the famous 23rd Regiment Ohio Volunteers, the regi- 
ment noted for its gallant record in war, and famous for the 
number of its members wlio afterward distinguished themselves 
in public life. Major Generals William S. Rosecrans and E. P. 
Scammon, both graduates of West Point, and Rutherford B 
Hayes and James M. Comly were its four colonels ; Associate Jus- 
tice Stanley Matthews and Russell Hastings were Lieutenant 
Colonels, and its Surgeon Major, Joseph T. Webb, was brevetted 
Lieutenant-C'olonel : W^illiam McKinley, Captain and brevet- 
major: while Robert P. Kennedy and William S. Lyon becnm.e 
Lieutenant-Governors of Ohio. 

The members of the regiment dined at a long table under 
what were then christened and have since been known as the 
"Reunion Oaks", enormous white oaks "General Sheridan", 
"General Rosecrans", "General Scammon", "General Comlv". 



30 

and "Associate Justice Stanley Matthews". Other oak trees were 
christened after Chief Justice Waite and General George Crook, 
the famous Indian fighter, who were also present at the reunion. 

During the annual visits of President Hayes to Spiegel 
Grove, he was accompanied by many distinguished men who were 
likewise honored by havnig trees named after them. The most 
l)eautifnl and stately elm was named after General Sherman who 
was a frequent visitor, and a beautiful red maple was named 
after President Garfield. 

On the occasion of the funeral of President Hayes, in Jan- 
uary, 1893, Grover Cleveland, a strong personal friend, after 
their joint service on the Peabody Education Fund and other 
public philanthropies, although then the only ex-President, as 
well as the president-elect of the United States, made the long 
journey in the middle of winter to pay his last measure of respect 
to one whom he personall}^ esteemed, saying, "He would have 
come to my funeral had the situation been reversed." As he 
entered the Hayes presidential carriage which with its horses 
was still preserved, the keen air of mid-winter and the crowds 
of men in uniform caused the horses to plunge forward and for :\ 
moment it was feared that President Cleveland would be thrown 
to the ground. He recovered himself promptly by the aid of a 
mammoth shell-bark hickory against which he leaned and 
since that time the tree has been known as the Grover Cleveland 
Hickon^ of 1893 in honor of the great Democrat. 

On the first of September, 1897, the 23rd Ohio Regiment 
was again the guest at a reunion in Spiegel Grove. President 
William McKinley, Secretary of War Alger, Senator Hanna of 
Ohio, and others prominent in public life, spoke from beneath a 
group of white oaks around which a stand had been erected, 
while Mrs. McKinley and the ladies of the party were seated 
on the porch of the Hayes residence. The group of white oaks 
was promptly named the McKinley Oaks of 1897. 

In 1904, another reunion of the 23rd Regiment was held, 
owing to inclement weather, on the 80-foot porch of the Hayes 
residence. The guest of the Regiment and chief speaker was 
Rear-Admiral Charles E. Clark, U. S. N., the captain of the 
k-attleship Oregon, which made the famous run from San Fran- 



31 

Cisco Bay through the Straits of Magellen. Dodging the Spanish 
fleet in the West Indies, she safely joined the American fleet at 
Key West, and without a moment's delay proceeded with the 
fleet to bottle up Admiral Cevera's Spanish fleet in the harbor of 
Santiago de Cuba. Wlien the Spaniards attempted to escape, 
on the third of July, 1898, the battleship Oregon opened tire 
on each Spanish ship as it emerged from the harbor *'and 
left not one of them until after it had hoisted signals of surren- 
der or been driven ashore." The Admiral Clark white oak was 
christened during the exercises. 

In 1908, in the early days of the presidential campaign. Judge 
William H. Taft was a guest of Colonel Hayes, and on being ad- 
vised of the custom of naming trees after presidents, distin- 
guished soldiers and sailors, and having been invited to select 
his tree, promptly chose one of the largest white oaks in the 
(irove, immediately in front of the residence, and with the re- 
mark, "That is about my size", placed his hand on it and 
christened it the William H. Taft oak of 1908. 

On May 30, 19 16, after the completion of the Hayes 
Memorial Libran/ and Museum building with funds provided by 
the State of Ohio and Colonel Hayes, in almost equal parts, the 
exercises of dedication were held from a stand erected directly 
in front of the house. Dr. Charles Richard Wilhams, of Prince- 
ton, New Jersey, the biographer of President Hayes, delivered 
a scholarly address after which the Honorable Newton D. Baker. 
Secretarv of War, as the representative of President Wilson; 
United States Senator Atke Pomerene ; and Congressman A. W. 
Overmyer who had come from Washington for the purpose, 
delivered appropriate addresses; as did also Representatives of 
the Alilitary Order of the Loyal Legion of which President Hayes 
was Commander-in-Chief at the time of his death; the Grand 
Armv of the Republic, by the commander of his old post. The 
Eugene Rawson Post G. A. R.. and the President of the 23rd 
Regiment O. V. V. I. Association 

It was deemed peculiarly appropriate in arranging for the 
exercises of Oct. 4, 1920, the 98th anniversar}' of the birth of 
Rutherford B. Hayes, to agam erect the speaker's stand under the 
famous McKmley Oaks of 1897. 



32 

The exercises of the day were arrang-ed by the following 
efficient committees : 

Spiegel Grove Committee of the Ohio Arehccological Soeiefy 
— Webb C. Hayes, Fremont, Chairman; I. T. Fangboner, Fre- 
mont, Vice Chairman; W. J. Sherman, Toledo, D. J. Ryan, 
Columbus ; F. W. Treadway, Cleveland. 

Soldiers Memorial ParkTvoy Committee — A. E. Slessman, 
Chairman ; Kent H. Dillon, Secretary. 

Edgar Thurston Post, American Legion — W. H. Johnston, 
Commander ; Carl Stroup, Adjutant. 

Emerson Command, Spanish War Veterans — Harry Price, 
Commander; George Grob, Adjutant. 

Eugene Razvson Post, G. A. R. — S. B. Rathbun, Com- 
mander; B. F. Evans, Adjutant. 

George Croghan Chapter Daughters American Revolution — 
Mrs. E. K. Sarnes, Regent ; ^Irs. F. P. Timmons, Secretary. 

Fremont Chamber of Commerce — D. H. Beckett, Presi- 
dent ; Carl Pressler, Secretary-Manager. 

Celebration Committee Fremont Chamber of Conimerce — 
V. D. Butman, Chairman ; P. A. Lins, A. E. Slessman, D. H. 
Beckett, Carl Pressler. 

Special Hospital Committee Exchange Club — Chas. L. 
Sherwood. Chairman ; Harry P. Gottron, V. D. Butman, Jas. FT. 
Goodwin, Jas. G. Younkman. 

Special Committee Fremont City Council — G. H. Brinker- 
hoff. Chairman ; Edward Deemer, John L. Reineck. 




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